新奇事件簿 研究称生小孩让女性更长寿

A new report says that women who do not have children may die earlier than those who do. Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark looked at over 21,000 couples between 1994 and 2005. They all tried to have children, without success. The women all went to special clinics for IVF treatment – a technique where doctors fertilize¹ the woman's egg in a laboratory². The researchers said that women who could not have children were four times likelier than mothers to die early. Some doctors have said the report might cause childless women to worry about dying³ early. The truth is there is a very small risk of an early death. Just 316 women died during the 11-year study. Very few of those died earlier than average.

一份新的报告称，没有生小孩的女性比生小孩的女性更早去世。来自丹麦奥胡斯大学的研究人员在1994年和2005年间调查了超过2.1万名夫妻。他们都曾努力想要生小孩，但是失败了。所有女性都曾到特别门诊接受了试管婴儿IVF治疗——医生在实验室中使女性的卵子受精。研究人员表示，没有生小孩的女性比做了母亲的女性早逝的可能性高四倍。一些医生表示，该报告可能会导致没有孩子的女性担心早逝风险。事实是，早逝的风险非常低。在11年的研究过程中，只有316名女性死亡。其中几乎没有人的死亡年龄比平均年龄早。

One critic of the report said the study was very misleading. Dr Ingrid Collins, a psychologist, told the BBC: "This is a very specific situation of people who are trying to have children. The study's findings⁴ cannot be used to talk about the whole general population." She added: "People having IVF tend to be desperate for a child. If they are unsuccessful, they may be depressed⁵. It may be this depression rather than the childlessness that causes an earlier death." Another psychologist, Dr Helen Nightingale, agreed, saying: "Being childless without a doubt reduces your fight for life….The support of a family, the focus on your children and grandchildren, and the desire to watch how they turn out drives your will to survive."

该报告的一位批评人士表示，这份研究非常具有误导性。心理学家Ingrid Collins博士告诉BBC：“这只是针对努力想生小孩的非常特别的人群。这项研究的结果不能适用于整个人群。”她补充说：“进行试管婴儿手术的人非常渴望生孩子。如果没有成功，他们就会抑郁。导致早亡的或许是抑郁，而不是没有孩子。”另外一位心理学家Helen Nightingale博士赞同她的说法。她说：“没有孩子毫无疑问会让你的生活缺少斗志。家人的支持，对孩子和孙子的关注以及看着他们长大的渴望都会让你更想生存下去。”

1 fertilize   

v.使受精，施肥于，使肥沃

参考例句：

• Fertilizer is a substance put on land to fertilize it.肥料是施在地里使之肥沃的物质。
• Reading will fertilize his vocabulary.阅读会丰富他的词汇。

2 laboratory   

n.实验室，化验室

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
• Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想，但我们只好因陋就简。

3 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

4 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。